Half Man Half Biscuit Half Hearted

Half Man Half Biscuit Half Hearted

Ah yes. Why spend time typing up the lyrics to Half Man Half Biscuit songs? Because they are gems like no other. We celebrate British bands and artists for seminal musical works (think Bowie or Elvis Costello) and, unless you happen to know the late John Peel's inside leg measurement or you were enlightened as a student, the majesty, wit and sheer intelligence of the HMHB opus is ignored. Shame, shame, shame.


Over the years a number of web sites have recorded some lyrics and a multitude of research notes for the songs [see the excellent www.hmhb.co.uk]. The latter are invaluable to understanding the wide ranging and often obscure historical references. The former are a mixed bag, with only a few songs listed.


So what started out as a full hearted attempt by me to record the lyrics so my sister could understand the songs has developed into a blog post and a project to educate the half-hearted masses and to provide a definitive song list with lyrics.

They'll be other crap on here too such as my own songs "Progressive Dads", "People called Wilson", "Blog-proof iPod", "Armchair Expert" and "Holistically Challenged"- I need to finish writing them first :)

"...Baby I'm from the Wirral Peninsula.
A merciless despot with nothing to lose"

Monkey Man, June 2007

Please note that all lyrics are mostly my interpretation and are presented here to assist you in understanding the songs. They are the copyright of others.

You should also pay a visit to www.chrisrand.com/hmhb/ for HMHB lyrics - a superb site with a superb range of listings

Saturday, 30 June 2007

Hedley Verityesque [McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt]

Found a nice little cove where nobody else goes
Took a trip 'round the caves at Drac and said
"It's good to explore the more cultural aspects"

Hedley Verityesque
she passed into folklore
Trod on lines in the pavement and said
"There's no room for enigmas in built up areas"

Sweats who think they're hard
My head no end do in

Brakes fail in the rain
Down Memory Lane
Come relive my paper round with me

But I don't see any more
pent up Alsatians
They used to wait by the door and say
"It's nice to know you're here
It's nice to know you're here"

But I don't want anymore
stark German film noirs
And I could well do without
The hand-clapping sequence at the end of Blockbusters

You were in my hall
Now you're on my wall
Peter Sarstedt Mr Irony
Get in the hole
In some warm lagoon
I'll be with Aysha soon
Brakes fail in the rain

Down Memory Lane
Come relive my paper round with me
But I don't see any more
big mad Alsatians
They used to wait by the door and sing
"It's nice to know you're here
It's nice to know you're here"

And I don't need any more stark German film noirs
And I could well do without
The hand-clapping sequence at the end of Blockbusters
Where all of the audience try to convince themselves that what
they are doing is silly but acceptable
and the only thing I can say is
"Oh Kip Keino"

Notes taken from www.hmhb.co.uk

Hedley Verity Yorkshire left-arm spinner, died in the Second World War. Famed for the least expensive ten wicket analysis in first-class cricket against Notts in 1932: 19.4-16-10-10, ending the innings with 7 wickets in 15 balls. So now you know. He also took 144 wickets for England at around 24 apiece.
Caves of Drac Caves on the east coast of Majorca, away from the mass of pissed teenagers on heat.
"Sweats who think they're hard, my head no end do in" Sweats being cockney rhyming slang for Scots persons (sweats = sweaty socks = jocks). Many of who think a good night out consists of drinking 2 gallons of beer until 3am and then getting into a brawl. Except those from Edinburgh of course.
pent-up alsatians… often found on the sort of council estates that look like Beirut with Morris Marinas. You know the sort of places, all the men are wandering around with four-packs of cheap lager wearing their vests, the women are all no tights, cellulite and white stilettos, kids with crew cuts and a satellite dish on every house. AAAAAAArgh.
…who sing "It's nice to know you're here…"another footy song, sung by home fans to the away fans: "It's nice to know you're 'ere, it's nice to know you're 'ere, it's nice to know you're 'ere, F*CK OFF!", to the tune of "On Ilkley Moor bar t'at".
stark German film noirs Not enough of them on the telly, I think. [Well, maybe too many - PJF]
Blockbusters Schoolkids quiz show "Can we have a pee Bob?"
Peter Sarstedt 60's (maybe 70's) singer of the dreadful "Where do you go to my lovely" Only other hit was "Frozen Orange Juice", the follow-up. And pseudo-sophisticated drivel "I want to get inside your head". I can't bear to say any more apart from the fact that I think he's still alive. Robin Sarstedt ("My Resistance is Low") was his brother, as was Eden Kane.
Ayshea [Brough] An Anglo-Asian woman who had her own TV show on ITV at 4.20 one week-day in the 70's called "Lift Off With Ayshea". It was basically a pop programme.
Kip Keino A long distance runner from Kenya in the 70's. His son is a bit of a star runner these days.

4 comments:

Brian McCloskey said...

I auditioned for Blockbusters when I was in the sixth form.

The lady in charge of the audition panel was the wife of Dickie Davies.

No, really.

EskimoEric said...

Hee hee.

I met the man.

Anonymous said...

Haha, wonderful blog. I bought a tape of theirs in 1994 just because I liked the name. I had no idea what the lyrics meant. Thought the "Caves of Drac" must be in Translylvania" near to Castle Drac perhaps. Hedley Verityesque I imagined to be an Edwardian lady. However I could pretty much imagine how bad the "handclapping sequence at the end of blockbusters" was, despite having grown up in a different country!

EskimoEric said...

Glad to have you reading the blog. Only sorry that I have very little time these days to add to or update what's here.